Root + Savor

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Keto Jalapeño Popper Chicken Skillet

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This easy Keto Jalapeño Popper Chicken Skillet is the perfect weeknight meal that makes great leftovers for lunches for the week! Whole chicken thighs are shredded in the skillet, cooked with bacon, jalapeños and served with cauliflower rice for a fun one pan dinner!

jalapeno popper chicken in skillet

What’s not to love about one pan skillet dinners?

Hello easy & less dishes & fast dinner in under 30 minutes.

  • tender, juicy chicken thighs shredded straight in the skillet
  • soft cream cheese melted with shredded parmesan
  • thick cut crispy flavorful bacon
  • canned jalapeños (hi super easy over here!)
  • frozen bag of cauliflower rice (again, easy peasy)
  • chopped caramelized red onion (save a lil fresh for topping at the end cause extra crunchy factor)
  • fresh squeeze of lime juice for your cilantro cauli rice situation
  • cilantro (is cilantro reallllly ever optional?)
chicken thighs in skillet

This bacon is cooked in the skillet first and then the chicken is sautéed right in the same pan to get it nice and crispy and perfectly juicy. Plus caramelized red onions. YUM.

Did I mention bacon?

I told you guys about shredding chicken with a handheld kitchen mixer in my instant pot chipotle adobo chicken. Super easy. Super fast. I didn’t do it this time cause I just used two forks to shred right in the pan. But if you are going for speedy then yes, pull out the mixer and shred it up!

shredded chicken with cream cheese

Pillowy pockets of cubed cream cheese melted on top of jalapeño chicken (is that the popper part of it?) Either way, this sauce is built on cheese and chicken broth and jalapeños and SO MUCH FLAVOR.

jalapeño chicken skillet with bacon

When choosing your bacon, do me a favor and go to Trader Joe’s grocery store and buy the thick cut ends & pieces cause it’s the best bacon! And then when you are cooking your bacon, leave the pieces a little big so you get a nice bite in this keto jalapeño popper chicken skillet!

jalapeno popper skillet

Like always, I love fresh ingredients. And then I also love easy. So if you can find a mini can of jalapeños (you know the cute 4 oz jars) then go for that! Alternatively, you could add fresh diced jalapeños and decide to keep the seeds in or out based on your kind of hot factor.

When I make a recipe and they tell me to de-seed the jalapeños, I never pay attention, ever, cause I like them there for a reason. Come on, we are working with jalapeños here.

jalapeno chicken skillet

You could totally add white or brown rice here but if you are going for the keto, low carb option, cauliflower it is. To keep this recipe one skillet, we just add the frozen bag of cauliflower right into the skillet to make it a casserole type dish. If you’d rather wash another pot, you can make it in a sauce pan with fresh lime juice and chopped cilantro.

plated jalapeno popper chicken

Did I also mention leftovers? The best for lunches or dinner the next day. Also freezes quite well!

Yes. I think you are going to love this recipe!

Because we all love less dishes, more flavor and super easy dinner in under 30 minutes!

jalapeno popper chicken plated

If you make this recipe, be sure to tag @rootandsavor on instagram and follow along on Facebook!

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Keto Jalapeno Popper Chicken Skillet

Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes
Servings 4

Ingredients

  • 1 lb chicken thighs
  • 8 oz bacon, slices
  • 1/2 cup shredded cheese (I used parmesan)
  • 4 oz cream cheese, cubed
  • 1 cup chicken broth
  • 1/2 red onion, chopped
  • 2-3 tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped
  • 12 oz frozen bag of cauliflower rice
  • juice of one lime
  • sea salt & pepper to taste

Instructions

  1. In a large cast iron skillet, cook the bacon until desired crispiness. Remove bacon from pan and set aside. 

  2. Add chicken thighs to the skillet with the remaining bacon fat. Cook on medium to high heat for 10 minutes or until chicken is fully cooked, flipping halfway through. Add chopped red onion at 5 minute mark. Shred chicken in skillet with two forks. 

  3. Add the can of jalapeños, cream cheese and parmesan cheese. Cook on low-medium heat until cream cheese is melted. In the same skillet, add the frozen bag of cauliflower rice and 1 cup of chicken broth. Cover and cook until cauliflower rice is tender and heated throughout (about 3-5 minutes). 

  4. Top with fresh lime juice and cilantro. Add sea salt and pepper to taste!

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Mashed Sweet & Golden Potatoes

Thanksgiving is just around the corner! Where did fall go? I’m sitting at my kitchen table watching the snow trickle down and Christmas music is playing in the background. I don’t know about your fall but here in Minnesota it went from 65 degrees and sunny (thats when we wear our shorts!) and the next weekend was snowing and 30 degrees. Our fall and winter can be in sort of a mix up but when it’s snowing, that brings me all the feels and I’m already starting to plan out my Holiday decorating. Meaning, my husband came home the other day and showed me the magazine of wreaths that our neighbor in elementary school is selling. Needless to say, I was totally excited and picked out the most beautiful wreath with a red, striped bow 🙂

Of course, this has me baking all things fall (I think I’m a little late in the game in October–still trying to pretend it’s warm outside!) Thanksgiving is my favorite meal of the whole year. I’m all about the savory and sweet foods mixed all on one plate. I’m not the divide-and-section-off-your-plate kind of girl. In fact, my plate might as well be called a casserole because you can’t seem to pick out the corn/turkey/stuffing/potatoes/salad/cranberry sauce from anything else. But, hey, I like it that way and I’m counting down the days until we celebrate!

One of the best things about being a blogger is you can test out recipes early on, so I already am getting into the Thanksgiving spirit! What I love about these potatoes is that they have the combination of savory and sweet (can you tell that’s my kind of food?) They are SO easy to make because you don’t need an electric mixer or food processor. They are super soft once they are done boiling that all it takes is a fork and a little stirring. Really, instead of mashed/mixed potatoes they should be called stirred potatoes. All I know is that in my family we grew up with mashed potatoes meaning that they are not baby food. I’m not hating on anyone who loves the creamiest texture potatoes but then shouldn’t they be called creamed potatoes?

Seriously guys, just a fork for mashing!!

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Mashed Sweet & Golden Potatoes

Ingredients

  • 1 large sweet potato (or 2-3 small ones)
  • 3-4 golden potatoes
  • 3-4 tbsp grass fed butter
  • 1/2-3/4 cup half and half or whole milk
  • sea salt & ground pepper to taste
  • garlic powder or fresh parsley to taste optional

Instructions

  1. Peel potatoes if spotted, otherwise you can leave the skin on (such great vitamin c in the skin if it's organic!) and chop up the potatoes in large cube sides. Place potatoes in a medium size pot and fill with water. Turn on stove to high and let the potatoes boil for 20 minutes or until you can put a fork through and they are soft/easy to break.

  2. Pour the potatoes in a colander and let sit for few minutes in the sink to drain. Put the potatoes in a medium size bowl and add the butter. Mix potatoes with a fork and add half and half and continue mixing until desired consistency. Sprinkle with sea salt and pepper. You can add garlic powder or fresh parsley if you'd like! 

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Breakfast Egg Cups

Who loves breakfast already made for you? You open the fridge and there it is. All you need to do is heat it up! (or eat it cold cause that’s perfectly acceptable!) These eggie-muffin-breakfast-cups are so easy to make. You could prepare them the night before and bake them in the morning. Or make them a week before and store them in the freezer and defrost the night before. Or make them and keep them in the fridge for the week! Endless possibilities guys. I mean I love making eggs in the morning. But the fancy fixings take a long time and then the pan…waiting to be cleaned…or not…

So, here it is; the go-to snack/brunch/breakfast/munchie for everyone.

 

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Breakfast Egg Cups

Servings 10 egg muffins

Ingredients

  • 6 eggs
  • 1/4 cup milk (almond, dairy, coconut)
  • 1/2 cup cheese (feta, parmesan or cheddar)
  • 3/4 cup cooked veggies (spinach, kale, broccoli, zucchini, onion)
  • 1 tbsp fat (olive oil, avocado oil, butter or ghee)
  • 4 slices bacon
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp pepper
  • 1/2 tsp seasoning (nutmeg & sage or rosemary & thyme)

Instructions

  1. Crack 6 eggs into a large bowl and mix well. Add milk, seasonings and cheese until fully incorporated. 

  2. Add fat to sauté pan on medium heat and cook veggies. Grease muffin tins with oil (my favorite is grass fed butter!) and spoon veggies into muffin tins until about 1/3 full. 

  3. Pour egg/cheese mixture into cups and bake at 350 for 25 minutes. 

  4. I always check the egg cups to see if they get "golden brown" on the top and can insert toothpick or knife into the cup and it comes out clean. Remember, even after you take the pan out of the oven, the cups still cook a little! I love adding hot sauce, tomatoes or salsa to the top!

Recipe Notes

I like to keep my recipes open to change. So this one will be more of "suggestions." Feel free to comment your rendition of  the recipe or what spices you like to add!